Mosquito Power: Don’t Test It

Travellers, particularly pregnant women, heading to Zika-prone areas need to stay alert. We’ll help you with that as warmer, wetter weather approaches and mosquitos come out of hiding to feast on bare skin.

To date, the Zika virus has been carried primarily (as far the experts know) by the Aedes aegypti species of mosquito. But there is growing suspicion that Aedes albopictus is a potential carrier. If this turns out to be the case, the risk area for Zika virus transmission will explode.

The highest risk identified to date is throughout the entire subtropical and tropical area of North America: the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, most of South American (except Chile), and the southern U.S.—mostly Florida, the Gulf States, including Texas, the southern Atlantic coast region, and southern Arizona.

If Aedes albopictus, which is common well beyond A. aegypti’s range, becomes a co-conspirator and joins the latter transmitting the Zika virus, then the entire area south of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and all states from Texas to the east coast, will be susceptible to local transmission of the virus.

That’s going to require a lot of summer weather long-sleeved blouses and pants, DEET, and Skin So Soft.

Check out the maps developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Milan Korcok has been covering international health care activities and trends in Canada, the U.S., and abroad since the introduction of Canada’s medicare system in the late’60s. He has long served as contributing editor to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and currently serves as contributor to the International Travel Insurance Journal, published in the UK and distributed globally.

Global Insurance Pioneers Since 1946

About Ingle International

A trusted name in the industry, Ingle International now part of MSH Americas provides customized travel insurance solutions for anyone studying, working, or living anywhere in the world. Representing insurers worldwide, Ingle International will find the right insurance product to suit the unique travel needs of groups and individuals. Specializing in insurance, health care, and emergency assistance services since 1946.